Interface device coupled to PC host via USB |
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申请号 | US10877785 | 申请日 | 2004-06-25 | 公开(公告)号 | US20050037807A1 | 公开(公告)日 | 2005-02-17 |
申请人 | Michael Dove; | 发明人 | Michael Dove; | ||||
摘要 | An intelligent dual host USB interface module further including a plurality of USB ports for receiving and transmitting USB communication signals over a corresponding plurality of USB lines. The module is operable to receive USB communications from the intelligent dual host USB interface module and to determine whether to transmit the received communications over the intelligent dual host USB interface module to a downstream USB device or whether to process the received USB communications. The term “processing” relates to the specific type of device and respective functionality. For example, the module may be formed within a camera, a printer, an audio/video playback device such as an MP3 player, a CD player or a DVD player, a hard disk drive or a wireless access point or host. In the case of the wireless access point, “processing” relates to converting the received USB signals to outgoing RF signals and transmitting the signals to another wireless device. | ||||||
权利要求 | |||||||
说明书全文 | This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/482,737, filed Jun. 26, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 1. Technical Field This invention relates generally to data networks and more particularly to data networks that include radio frequency integrated circuits used in wireless communication systems. 2. Related Art Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standard. For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standard including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof. Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, etc., communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of a plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via a public switched telephone network, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network. Each wireless communication device includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.) to enable the device to participate in wireless communications. As is known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard. In systems that utilize an intermediate frequency stage, the one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to produce RF signals. For direct conversion systems, the baseband signals are directly up-converted to RF signals. The power amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) that support one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g., IEEE 802.11(a), IEEE 802.11(b), IEEE 802.11(g), etc., are rapidly becoming available. It is therefore desirable to enable computer systems to operate within a WLAN. While many computers are constructed with WLAN interfaces, most computer systems are not so constructed. Further, with the advancement of 2.5G and 3G cellular networks that support high-speed data service, it is desirable for computer systems to receive data service from such cellular networks. Further, as Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol devices proliferate, it is further desirable to facilitate transmission between wireless and USB protocols. An intelligent dual host USB interface module includes a plurality of USB ports for receiving and transmitting USB communication signals over a corresponding plurality of USB cables/lines. The module further comprises memory for storing software instructions that define logic for communicating over the plurality of USB lines, a processing module coupled to the intelligent dual host USB interface module operable to communicate over the plurality of USB lines, wherein the processing module is operable to receive USB communications from the intelligent dual host USB interface module and to determine whether to transmit the received communications over the intelligent dual host USB interface module to a downstream USB device or whether to process the received USB communications. The terms “process” and “processing” relate to the specific type of device and respective functionality. For example, the module may be formed within a camera wherein processing relates to camera functionality. The module may be formed within a printer wherein processing relates to printing text and images. The module may be formed within a audio/video playback device such as an MP3 player, a CD player or a DVD player wherein processing relates to generating audio/video. The module may further be formed within a hard disk drive wherein processing relates to storing received data or computer instructions. Finally, the module may be formed within a wireless access point or host wherein processing relates to converting received USB signals to baseband and then to radio frequency signals for transmission over a wireless medium to a wireless host or access point. Generally, the intelligent dual host USB interface module is operable to determine whether to transmit or process the received communications based upon a plurality of factors including a determined source type that produced the USB communications to the module or a determined class of a device that produced the USB communications to the module. The module is operable in a repeater mode and in a processing mode wherein, in the repeater mode, the module receives the USB communications over a first USB line and produces the communications over a second USB line to a downstream USB device. Finally, in one embodiment of the invention, received data from a medium or source is stored in a USB protocol stack in a USB format to facilitate subsequent processing by known logic and algorithms for processing USB data. Thus, for example, data received in an embodiment that includes the wireless radio circuitry includes down-converting the received RF to baseband, further converting the data to USB protocol formats, and storing the data in a USB protocol stack. Thus, for this embodiment, the inventive device includes circuitry and logic to perform the described conversions to a USB protocol. The base stations or access points 12-16 are operably coupled to the network hardware component 34 via Local Area Network (LAN) connections 36, 38 and 40. The network hardware component 34, which may be a router, switch, bridge, modem, system controller, etc., provides a wide area network connection 42 for the communication system 10. Each of the base stations or access points 12-16 has an associated antenna or antenna array to communicate with the wireless communication devices in its area. Typically, the wireless communication devices 18-32 register with the particular base station or access points 12-16 to receive services from the communication system 10. For direct connections (i.e., point-to-point communications), wireless communication devices communicate directly via an allocated channel. Typically, base stations are used for cellular telephone systems and like-type systems, while access points are used for in-home or in-building wireless networks. Regardless of the particular type of communication system, each wireless communication device includes a built-in radio and/or is coupled to a radio. The radio includes a highly linear amplifier and/or programmable multi-stage amplifier as disclosed herein to enhance performance, reduce costs, reduce size, and/or enhance broadband applications. As illustrated, the host device 18-32 includes a processing module 50, a memory 52, a radio interface 54, an input interface 58 and an output interface 56. The processing module 50 and memory 52 execute the corresponding instructions that are typically done by the host device. For example, for a cellular telephone host device, the processing module 50 performs the corresponding communication functions in accordance with a particular cellular telephone standard. The radio interface 54 couples to the host device 18-32 via a host interface that may be a PCI interface, a USB interface, a serial interface, a parallel interface, or another type of interface. The host interface may itself be a wireless interface, e.g., a Bluetooth interface or IEEE 802.15 interface. The radio interface 54 allows data to be received from and sent to the radio 60. For data received from the radio 60 (e.g., inbound data), the radio interface 54 provides the data to the processing module 50 for further processing and/or routing to the output interface 56. The output interface 56 provides connectivity to an output device such as a display, monitor, speakers, etc., such that the received data may be displayed. The radio interface 54 also provides data from the processing module 50 to the radio 60. The processing module 50 may receive the outbound data from an input device such as a keyboard, keypad, microphone, etc., via the input interface 58 or generate the data itself. For data received via the input interface 58, the processing module 50 may perform a corresponding host function on the data and/or route it to the radio 60 via the radio interface 54. Radio 60 includes a host interface 62, digital receiver processing module 64, an analog-to-digital converter 66, a filtering/attenuation module 68, an IF mixing down-conversion module 70, a receiver filter module 71, a low noise amplifier 72, a transmitter/receiver (TX/RX) switch module 73, a local oscillation module 74, a memory 75, a digital transmitter processing module 76, a digital-to-analog converter 78, a filtering/gain module 80, an IF mixing up-conversion module 82, a power amplifier 84, a transmitter filter module 85, and an antenna 86. The antenna 86 may be a single antenna that is shared by the transmit and receive paths as regulated by the TX/RX switch module 73, or may include separate antennas for the transmit path and receive path. The antenna implementation will depend on the particular standard to which the wireless communication device is compliant. The digital receiver processing module 64 and the digital transmitter processing module 76, in combination with operational instructions stored in memory 75, execute digital receiver functions and digital transmitter functions, respectively. The digital receiver functions include, but are not limited to, digital intermediate frequency to baseband conversion, demodulation, constellation demapping, decoding, and/or descrambling. The digital transmitter functions include, but are not limited to, scrambling, encoding, constellation mapping, modulation, and/or digital baseband to IF conversion. The digital receiver and transmitter processing modules 64 and 76 may be implemented using a shared processing device, individual processing devices, or a plurality of processing devices. Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on operational instructions. The memory 75 may be a single memory device or a plurality of memory devices. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. Note that when the processing module 64 and/or 76 implements one or more of its functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory storing the corresponding operational instructions is embedded with the circuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. The memory 75 stores, and the processing module 64 and/or 76 execute, operational instructions. In operation, the radio 60 receives outbound data 94 from the host device 18-32 via the host interface 62. The host interface 62 routes the outbound data 94 to the digital transmitter processing module 76, which processes the outbound data 94 in accordance with a particular wireless communication standard (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Bluetooth, etc.) to produce digital transmission formatted data 96. The digital transmission formatted data 96 will be a digital baseband signal or a digital low IF signal, where the low IF typically will be in the frequency range of one hundred kilohertz to a few megahertz. The digital-to-analog converter 78 converts the digital transmission formatted data 96 from the digital domain to the analog domain. The filtering/gain module 80 filters and/or adjusts the gain of the analog signal prior to providing it to the IF mixing up-conversion module 82. The IF mixing up-conversion module 82 directly converts the analog baseband or low IF signal into an RF signal based on a transmitter local oscillation 83 provided by local oscillation module 74. The power amplifier 84 amplifies the RF signal to produce an outbound RF signal 98, which is filtered by the transmitter filter module 85. The antenna 86 transmits the outbound RF signal 98 to a targeted device such as a base station, an access point and/or another wireless communication device. The radio 60 also receives an inbound RF signal 88 via the antenna 86, which was transmitted by a base station, an access point, or another wireless communication device. The antenna 86 provides the inbound RF signal 88 to the receiver filter module 71 via the TX/RX switch module 73, where the RX filter module 71 bandpass filters the inbound RF signal 88. The RX filter module 71 provides the filtered RF signal to low noise amplifier 72, which amplifies the inbound RF signal 88 to produce an amplified inbound RF signal. The low noise amplifier 72 provides the amplified inbound RF signal to the IF mixing down-conversion module 70, which directly converts the amplified inbound RF signal into an inbound low IF signal or baseband signal based on a receiver local oscillation signal 81 provided by local oscillation module 74. The down-conversion module 70 provides the inbound low IF signal or baseband signal to the filtering/attenuation module 68. The filtering/attenuation module 68 may be implemented in accordance with the teachings of the present invention to filter and/or attenuate the inbound low IF signal or the inbound baseband signal to produce a filtered inbound signal. The analog-to-digital converter 66 converts the filtered inbound signal from the analog domain to the digital domain to produce digital reception formatted data 90. The digital receiver processing module 64 decodes, descrambles, demaps, and/or demodulates the digital reception formatted data 90 to recapture inbound data 92 in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard being implemented by radio 60. The host interface 62 provides the recaptured inbound data 92 to the host device 18-32 via the radio interface 54. As one of average skill in the art will appreciate, the wireless communication device of As may further be seen, PC host 24 is also coupled to a picture printer 318 via a USB cable 304H. According to one aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, each device of Processing, as the term is used herein, relates to the type of device within which the “processing” occurs. For example, WLAN 306 converts communication signals to outgoing RF signals for transmission to an access point. Printer 308 prints the data, audio/visual player 310 generates audio/visual effects, etc. Thus, associated hardware with such “processing” is unique hardware for performing the desired function. The term processing, therefore, is broadly intended. With the structure of While Loaded into the memory 410 are wireless interface device software instructions (WIFD S/W) 412 that are loaded onto processing module 406 as WIFD S/W 414 for execution by the processing module 406. The WIFD S/W 414 includes the OS, e.g., Linux based OS, Microsoft Windows based OS, etc. With the OS running on the processing module 406, the processing module 406 manages the USB 2.0 I/F and the baseband processor 404 and radio interface 408 that support wireless communications. Further, the processing module 406 is capable of interfacing with the PC host 24 for management of the USB 2.0 link, for configuration and management of the WLAN, for management of the cellular service (if supported), for troubleshooting and diagnostic operations, and for a large number of other operations. Such instructions further relate to the type of device and associated hardware (e.g., application hardware 416). Whenever communication signals are received, whether by way of a USB cable/line or wireless RF medium, the embodiment of the inventive method includes determining whether to transmit received communication signals as an outgoing RF signal or a wired signal over a USB cable/line or whether to process the received communication signals according to a specified processing function (step 516). The specified processing function, of course, relates to the functions associated with the interface device. Here, received USB signals are either forwarded onto a second USB line or are wirelessly transmitted as RF. The wireless interface device includes logic for making such a determination based upon, for example, a specified destination ID or device type. In this specific example, the specific processing function of the wireless interface device is to convert the USB data to RF and to wirelessly transmit the RF. As has been described previously, the inventive circuitry and methods therefor may be implemented in a wide range of device types. In the example of The method of The preceding discussion has presented an interface device. As one of average skill in the art will appreciate, other embodiments may be derived from the teachings of the present invention without deviating from the scope of the claims. |